


Little Anxieties

by Bam4Me



Series: Familiar [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Avengers Family, Cat Tony, Cat Tony Stark, Domestic Avengers, Familiar Natasha, Familiar Steve, Familiar Tony, Familiars, M/M, Magic-Users, Protective Avengers, Tarantula Natasha, Witch Clint, Witch Rhodey, Witch Sam, Wolf Bucky, dog steve, familiar bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 19:19:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13083633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bam4Me/pseuds/Bam4Me
Summary: Tony loves Natasha so much. He just wishes he wasn't afraid of her while in their familiar forms. He feels bad for being scared.Bruce helps.





	Little Anxieties

**Author's Note:**

> I live! Yes, I do have a whole series planned out for this verse, don't worry, please stop asking me to write more for this verse every time you do I start getting chest pains and not the good kind. I'll write it when I write it.
> 
> avengersnonsexualageplay.tumblr.com

The Avengers Tower could get a little loud after missions sometimes. Tony has tried time and time again to get the others to move in with them all, but so far the only takers are Bruce and Thor - when he’s even dirtside at all that is.

 

He doesn’t see what the big issue is, he’s already made them all floors of their own, and it’s a long sight better than the military barracks that SHIELD offered, but the rest of the team seemed to be happy on their own.

 

But after missions, the whole lot of them usually made the trek back to Avengers Tower with Tony and the rest of his little brood -you could possibly argue that it was Rhodey’s brood since he was the human, but none of them denied that it was Tony that had gathered them all together like he had- and they would order enough take out to feed an army and watch movies for hours.

 

Of course, another tradition seemed unspoken, but always ended up true, was that all the familiars seemed to end up in their animal form after a mission.

 

Tony couldn’t deny that he loved curling up between Steve and Bucky on the floor while they stood guard over their kitten, keeping him warm and safe. He even loved how Bucky sometimes groomed him, even though that was fairly odd for a dog, but Bucky has gotten really good at being very gentle and not getting slobber all over his fur while he held Tony in between his front paws and cleaned him all up. It made Tony feel all tired and happy. Steve on the other hand, wasn’t allowed to groom him, because he always ended up covering Tony in too much slobber and getting rough with him. Of course, Steve was way better to fall asleep on. Post mission cuddles were the best time for bonding with his dogs.

 

Today… was not the best.

 

See, Tony loved Natasha. She was the bestest best to ever best, and she always gave Tony such amazing pets while he was in his animal form, and even her witch, Clint wasn’t all that bad… but she was still a tarantula, and Tony was still a cat.

 

See, he still loves her, and he’ll even stroke her when she’s in animal form and he’s in human, cause he knows that she secretly loves the affection when she is, but when he’s in his cat form, he couldn’t really control the fear instincts when he saw her.

 

Which is why he’s hiding under the couch right now, curled up in a little ball and feeling miserable cause he knew she felt bad about scaring him, and that made both of them feel worse, and Tony wanted to die a little cause Natasha doesn’t understand how much he _utterly loves her_ even while they’re both in this form and he feels terrible cause he honestly just wishes he could cuddle up to her like he does everyone else and be happy. But he can’t. And now they both feel terrible.

 

Tony looked up sadly when someone knelt down next to the couch, and he found himself staring into Bruce’s eyes. Bruce was amazing. He turned into a giant green guy who likes cuddling with all the familiars, and he had magical powers that made everyone around him really relaxed, but he also had some anger issues himself, but he’s never taken it out on anyone, so Tony likes him and he’s Tony’s science bro when they’re both in human form and Tony liked giving him cuddles -no matter what form he’s in- and Tony can’t help but relax a little as he looked up at him.

 

“Hey there, Tony, you wanna come out? I promise everything is fine and nothing will hurt you.”

 

Tony made an unsure mew, stepping back once and curling up tighter on himself. He didn’t _mean_ to be scared, he just was. He loved Natasha so much though. He felt awful. If he could cry as a kitten, he’d be sobbing. As it was, his body was trembling and he was letting out occasional little shivers and mews of sorrow. Bruce let out a little gasp as he felt the sad anxiety rolling off Tony in waves. He was amazing and he could feel emotions, but that just ade Tony feel worse cause _now he can feel how bad Tony is feeling and it’s making him feel bad too_.

 

“Oh, kitten, today is a bad anxiety day isn’t it?” Tony nodded with a sad mew, sagging tiredly against the floor. “Would it help if I promised to hold you and keep you close until you feel safe again?”

 

Tony honestly thought about that. Bruces powers were strongest when he was in physical contact with people, and Tony really was… tired. He was just so tired of being anxious and making himself and Natasha feel bad and he loved her so much and if he felt comfortable maybe one day they could even cuddle in their familiar forms and he just wished that things could be better. He was good at making things better in his human form, but in this form, he was just tired and sad and needs a hug.

 

He started crawling to the edge of the couch and as soon as he was out Bruce was putting gentle hands under his body, picking him up and pressing him to his chest so they could cuddle good and proper like Tony liked to. He could already feel a sense of calm coming over hi like a blanket. Rhodey came up behind him and started soothing his fingers through his fur like Tony liked it, making little cooing noises that he did when Tony’s anxiety went up. Tony could feel magic all around him, Bruce’s calming him down from the fear until he was a mushy puddle of happy cat, nearly purring against him, and Rhodey’s -soft and comforting, like your favorite blanket when you’re really tired- smoothing down his fur and grooming him till he actually started letting out those heavy purrs that always made Bruce laugh with how intense they were from such a small familiar.

 

Bruce let out that amused rumble and Tony gave a little sigh of happiness at that, sitting up enough so he could look around the room. Steve was standing next to Sam in animal form, looking a little worried about what was going on, but accepting the way Sam scratched the spot behind his ears with the gentle grace of the beast he was. It was comforting to know his bonded was taking care of him.

 

Tony gave a quiet mewl of question, looking around, though none of the shaking that he’d been doing before, thankfully.

 

“Nat is in the kitchen with Clint and Bucky,” because sometimes Tony forgets that Natasha and Bucky were best friends more often than they were enemies, “I know, I know you never meant for this to happen, she knows that too, but sometimes we have to think like humans and tell someone when we think we might be upset and needing some help.”

 

Oh god, there it is, Bruce’s ‘I’m not that kind of a doctor, but…’ speeches that he had for literally all situations from Tony not sleeping for five days because science was more important, all the way to why we’re not supposed to leave dead birds on Rhodey’s pillow because _that is an endangered species Tony how did you even find that don’t kill endangered birds_ , or some shit like that.

 

Bruce was a boring human man with boring human thoughts.

 

But right now he was being soothing and nice as he swayed with the cat in his arms, and Tony snuggled up into his neck, feeling like he was owed some cuddles for having to listen to him drone on about how Tony’s mental health was just as important as everyone else’s, no matter what form he was in at the moment.

 

He gave a little kitty sigh, wriggling to get down to the floor again, feeling much more calm than he did before, but he still made a beeline for Steve on the ground, leaning up so he could press their noses together. He could _feel_ how hard Steve was resisting licking him, because it always got the cat slobbery, and Tony rewarded his niceness with a few delicate licks of his own across Steve’s muzzle, pressing their faces together afterwards in a move that made Steve’s tail start wagging hard enough that Sam yelped and stepped away after it hit him.

 

“Oh that thing is like a whip, ow.”

 

Steve looked up at him with sorry sad eyes, and Sam sighed, reaching down to give him one last scratch to that nice spot. “It’s okay you dope, just be careful with the humans, we’re fragile.”

 

Tony was climbing up on top of Steve’s head at that point, so Steve couldn’t really reply, but they all looked to the door when the others started coming in from the kitchen. Phil was back from SHIELD and he’d stopped in the lobby to pick up the fifty pounds of food from the front desk they had ordered, and stomachs started growling all around the room.

 

Bucky was in his wolf form, and came over to Tony and Steve, tail wagging, leaning in so he could scent at both of them, gently licking Tony’s head while the cat sat on top of Steve’s neck -while he flopped out on the floor like the big lug he was- and Tony gave a polite meow of thanks when Bucky finally pulled away, settling down while Phil started passing food out and the others got back to chatting. Tony looked up from his safe space and saw Natasha sitting on the end of Clint’s knee while he started attacking a carton of chow mein noodles like it might be the last in the world.

 

She looked happy, content, and Tony didn’t even flinch when she looked right at him, giving her a shy little meow from his safe spot across the room.

 

Rhodey came over with a tray that had three dishes on it, stopping when both Steve and Bucky perked up, -nearly knocking Tony over from his perch, but Steve settled down when Tony gave him a little swat to the ear,- and gave them a stern look. “I know you’re both hungry but let Tony up first. He’s smaller than you and we don’t want a repeat of one of you stepping on his tail, _do we_?”

 

They both looked guilty at that, but neither of them got up again until Tony was safely sitting at the top of his cat tree he kept in the living room for exactly this purpose. Which, would be, not getting trampled when he’s trying to eat. Also it keeps ill mannered dogs from stealing his food because they didn’t have any of the skill that Tony did in climbing. Well, they _could_ climb, but they were dumb and got stuck a lot because they weren’t amazing like Tony was.

 

Familiars have a diet much like their animal counterparts, Tony’s tended to consist of light meats and cheeses -god Tony loved cheese- and stuff like that, but he was still trying to convince Rhodey that it was _perfectly fine_ for him to have his coffee in this form. It wasn’t working. In human form, he could eat anything another human could eat, but if he eats something like grapes or a whole coffee pot, or even just filled his stomach too much, he always had to wait a few hours in human form for it to work it’s way through or he’d be sick when he transformed back next.

 

Rhodey set a plate on the tray and Tony was purring before he even saw what was on it, the smell making him realize just what it was and he leaned up to push his head into Rhodey’s hand in thanks as he realized his amazing bonded, his best friend ever, had gotten him those yummy cat safe chicken enchiladas from his favorite mexican restaurant, and he absolutely loved him for that.

 

He may or may not still be riding the happy waves of the after effects of Bruce’s magic right now, and it was better than any drug he’s ever used he swears, it’s magical and he loves it.

 

When he was full and the growling and snapping had finally stopped as Bucky and Steve were scolded for wrestling in the living room, Tony finally came down from his perch and went to go cuddle with his boys. It wasn’t until he was firmly between them that he relaxed for the first time that day.

 

Sometimes all he needs is a cuddle to make things better. And food. And Rhodey and Bruce. And for Steve to please stop licking his head please you get slobber all over.

 

And a nap.

**Author's Note:**

> avengersnonsexualageplay.tumblr.com
> 
> A thing that MIGHT not make it to any of the fics but here it is, some world building for you:  
> Pepper used to work for Howard when she was younger, and Howard thought she was amazing and fucking ruthless as hell so he left her the entire company in his will. Obadiah doesn't exist. I was gonna put him in but tbh my brain was doing summersults trying to figure out how she got the company so no, he's not there. Pepper has had the company since she was 20.
> 
> Tony DID get taken by terrorists in Afghanistan because he's SIs top engineer, and he even had the arc reactor for a while. This caused massive depression and suicidal tendencies cause he could not leave human form for about three years before they finally were able to take it out again. I will not be writing about that time unless I get an idea for a specific fic, because I cannot handle angst. Not that angst anyways. Anyways that's the reason they pulled out of weapons manufacturing.
> 
> It is considered a war crime to separate a bonded pair. (Familiars and witches are not the only bonded pairs out there, couples can bond too, anyone can bond really, but no matter what, it means their life forces are connected to each other, and separating them unwillingly is very illegal literally everywhere in the world.)
> 
> Anyways, next fic that comes out, we're gonna meet Peter and Wade! And surprise surprise, it's not Spideypool.


End file.
